The present invention relates to the field of dosing bottles, of the type intended to contain a liquid product and provided with devices for dosing the quantities of liquid to be distributed.
The document FR-A-2 643 045 discloses a dosing bottle including a container, which is adapted to contain a liquid product and has a neck at the top, and a dosing chamber communicating with the container. The bottom of the dosing chamber includes an opening connected to a suction tube disposed in the container. The opening is provided with a non-return valve which can be opened in the direction towards the inside of the chamber by the application of a pressure from the interior of the container towards said chamber. The end of the chamber opposite the bottom is open and is associated with a closure member. The volume of the chamber is variable, its lateral walls consisting of a bellows. The end of the chamber opposite the bottom terminates inside the neck when the chamber is unfolded.
The operation of the above device is satisfactory. However, it is relatively costly because of the presence of the valve and the bellows, and it does not enable progressive use and distribution of the product contained in the bellows because, after opening, the open top end of the bellows is exposed to the atmosphere. This means that the user may distribute the liquid product unevenly over the area on which it should be deposited, and even spill some of it, which can stain the user""s clothing and eliminate the benefit of the dosing facility.
Also known in the art are bottles whose capacity is equal to the dose of product to be used on each application and which have a neck on which is mounted a push-button axial pump for progressively dispensing the product, each depression of the button pumping a fraction of the dose. This type of bottle is satisfactory in terms of accurate dosing of the product but is either costly, because a pump has to be provided for each bottle, or impractical to use because, prior to each use, the pump has to be transferred from the old bottle to a new bottle after opening the new bottle.
Also known in the art are bottles which have a greater capacity which corresponds to a plurality of doses and which are also provided with a push-button axial pump which is capable of delivering a small fraction of the dose each time it is pressed. In this case the user must count the number of times the button is pressed to arrive at the dose, whence a very high risk of errors.
An object of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of the devices described above.
The present invention provides a combination of a container, dosing means and means for spraying a fraction of the dose.
The device according to the invention is used to store and dispense liquids and comprises a first container having a first capacity, a second container having a second capacity less than the first capacity, means for transferring liquid from the first container towards the second container, and a pump communicating with the second container for taking a particular quantity of liquid from said second container and dispensing it.
The first container can be adapted to change from a maximum volume to a minimum volume, in particular in response to pressure applied to the wall of the first container, the positive pressure generated by the corresponding reduction in volume transferring liquid from the first container to the second container.
The pump advantageously includes a pushbutton which is actuated to pump said particular quantity of liquid.
The first container advantageously includes a neck and the second container is advantageously mounted axially on said neck.
In one embodiment of the invention the transfer means include a tube extending from the bottom of the first container to a given level in said second container and defining the second capacity, surplus liquid in the second container being able to flow through the tube towards the first container.
In one embodiment of the invention the device includes an intermediate part between the second container and the pump and the second container and the pump are coaxial.
The intermediate part can include a three-portion pipe which has a first portion whose free end communicates with the bottom of the second container and which passes through the second container and is offset relative to the axis of said part and the second container, a radial second portion communicating with a third portion, coaxial with the pump and the second container and into which a suction tube of the pump is force-fitted.
In one embodiment of the invention the radial second portion extends in the vicinity of an end of the second container opposite said bottom.
The invention also provides an intermediate part for liquid storage and dispensing devices of the type comprising a first container having a first capacity, a second container having a second capacity less than the first capacity, means for transferring liquid from the first container to the second container, and a pump communicating with the second container to take a particular quantity of liquid from said second container and dispense it. Said part includes a three-portion pipe which has a first portion which has a free end offset relative to the axis of said part, a radial second portion communicating with the first portion and with a third portion coaxial with said part and adapted to receive a pump suction tube.
The radial second portion is advantageously open at the end opposite the third portion.
By squeezing the container, the user transfers the liquid product contained in said container towards the dosing means formed by the second container. After releasing the pressure on the first container, if the level of the liquid transferred into the second container is above the level of the orifice of the tube, the portion of the liquid between these two levels drops back through the tube into the first container. There then remains in the second container a particular quantity of liquid which is progressively pumped each time the user actuates the pump.
For example, a first container could be provided with a capacity of the order of a few dozen to a few hundred cm3, a second container with a capacity of the order of a few cm3 and a pump taking a few tenths of a cm3 each time it is actuated by the user. The quantity delivered each time the pump is actuated is very small, which greatly reduces the risk of the formation of droplets of the liquid which can drop onto the clothes, for example in the case of a capillary product. Under normal conditions of use the user uses only a dose equal to the capacity of the second container each time, which does not discharge directly to the open air, which avoids the risk of spilling part of the dose and ensures that a known quantity is used each time, which is important in the case of treatment products, in particular capillary products.
The device is economical because the first container and the pump are standard components. The second container and the intermediate part are moulded from a synthetic material which can be mass-produced at low cost. A single pump enables the use of a quantity of product equal to at least one or several dozen doses.
Finally, the device is ergonomical and compact in that all its components are disposed on a single axis, which is the axis of the neck of the first container. The overall axial size is small because the intermediate part enables the axial first portion of the pipe to be offset relative to the axis common to the other components so that the liquid of the dose is taken from the bottom of the second container.
The present invention will be better understood after studying the following detailed description of one embodiment of the invention, which is given by way of non-limiting example only and refers to the accompanying drawings, in which: